Former prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who worked on the Russia investigation led by Robert Mueller, is issuing a public warning about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“Given the distinct prospect of jail, Trump is going to get uglier, more racist, more violent, more criminal,” Weissmann warned, writing in all caps in his original post to X, formerly called Twitter. “4 state and federal judges, in civil and criminal cases, have had to deal with his efforts to obstruct justice; he’s been charged with obstruction, including of a presidential election, and was convicted of doing so in the 2016 election. For him, it is now “no holds barred” time. The media and law enforcement need to be on alert!”
Trump held a press conference on Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that was widely panned as a mess. “Trump holds seemingly pointless press conference filled with false claims,” proclaimed a headline from The Independent, a U.K. media outlet. It came amid an extended absence from the campaign trail itself, where instead Trump’s running mate in this year’s election — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — was leading the charge on campaign trail appearances in key states.
The outcome of this year’s election could potentially have a serious impact on the progression of Trump’s various legal troubles, as if he makes it back into office, then much of what’s lingering could go on ice during his term. That potentially creates a serious incentive — separate from anything political — for Trump to try getting back into the White House.
In the meantime, Trump still has a sentencing in his New York City criminal case in which he was convicted of falsifying business records scheduled for September, though there are other proceedings taking place first. Sentencing was delayed from July after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established “presidential immunity,” meaning protection from prosecution for certain actions of a president.
